At the end of the Nobel Women’s Initiative conference, Moving Beyond Militarism & War: Women-driven Solutions for a Nonviolent World, participants endorsed a statement calling on a resolution to the conflict in Syria and inclusion of women in the peace process.
Read the full statement below or download it here.
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Inclusion of Women in Peace and Reconciliation Process in Syria
May 30, 2013
As women’s rights and peace activists, we welcome the announcement of renewal of the Geneva Process to bring about a resolution to the war in Syria.
We add our voices to the multitudes of war-affected people worldwide who understand that there can be no legitimate or sustainable peace process unless women who advocate for women’s rights and peace are at the table.
Syrian women of all ages and ethnicities have been, and continue to be, consistent in demanding and promoting peace and reconciliation, even in the midst of the fighting. They have a right to make those demands to the warring factions in Syria.
The international commitments ensuring women’s right to participation are clear, from the UN Security Council’s Women Peace and Security agenda contained in resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, and 1889, the UN General Assembly Resolution GA/65/283 (2011) and in the recent G8’s Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.
The implementation of these commitments is an obligation that must be upheld by the international community.
Accordingly, we call for:
- Ensuring the participation, including funding, and leadership of women who promote a women’s rights and peace agenda in all negotiations
- Securing a context for negotiation by halting all arms transfers to the government and all factions in the conflict
- Supporting a ceasefire
Endorsed by participants of Nobel Women’s Initiative conference, Moving Beyond Militarism & War: Women-driven Solutions for a Nonviolent World, including:
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate, 1976, Northern Ireland
Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Nobel Peace Laureate, 1992, Guatemala
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate, 1997, USA
Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Laureate, 2003, Iran
Madeleine Rees, Women’s Integral League for Peace and Freedom, Switzerland
Yifat Susskind, MADRE, USA
Jodie Evans, CODEPINK, USA
Lena Ag, Kvinna till Kvinna, Sweden
Barbara Ransby, Professor Women’s Studies, USA
Cynthia McKinney, Former Congresswoman, USA
Ann Wright, Colonel, USA
Valerie Hudson, The WomanStats Project, USA
Kathryn Semogas, International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict, Canada
Lisa VeneKlasen, Just Associates (JASS), USA
Sussan Tahmasebi, International Civil Society Action Network
Ann Patterson, Peace People, Northern Ireland
Bernice Freeman, Women in Peace Building Network (WIPNET), Liberia
Lynette Jackson, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Pauline Murphy, United Kingdom
Rebecca Guillaume, Haiti
Isadora Oralle Pena, Chile
Judith Hand, USA
Rawan Eghbariah, Israel